Great article. Subsidizing artist housing is such a productive idea. Everybody wins! Especially the neighborhoods. Gentrification doesn't have to price out the creatives; it doesn't have to mean only the rich can afford to live there.
'Riches' might have to be redefined to mean 'community'. An awesome thought. Thank goodness there are a few enlightened souls out there, like your brother's landlords, who see more value in encouraging the arts than in lining their already full pockets.
New York USED to be good that way. Now, it's all developers and condo fees. I doubt the legislation that enabled Manhattan Plaza (my brother's building) to exist would make it through the NY Lege at this point.
What a thorough and beautiful defense of the arts and artists.
I feel like most of the US doesn’t value how much we do for everyone’s benefit. City politicians just don’t see the connection. It seems like too big of a leap. It’s only in cities where artists have somehow already carved out a cultural scene. Or, I guess you could move to a beaten down backwater where rents and housing are lower, although even many of those places now have inflated housing costs, as corporations and greedy rich folks buy up properties to make more money renting them as short term rentals only. The cost of housing and healthcare are so high, that I have little time to do artistic photography any more. I spend almost all my time doing the least artistic shoots, because they are the ones that can help me pay our bills.
I am TRULY sorry to hear that. Aside from Cappuccino these days, I'm doing (or at least trying to do) corporate work, which certainly pays more than writing novels. Our country is being starved of creative capital because no one, including you, can afford to do what they were put on this earth to do. It's tragic.
As much as I despise where I live, it is one of those places I can at least afford (at least for now.) Moving some place like Mexico (away from the cities & drug cartels) or Belize is possible in theory. But in practice, as long as I'm taking care of Toni's dogs (and no one else is ever going to) then I'm well and thoroughly stuck here.
Great article. Subsidizing artist housing is such a productive idea. Everybody wins! Especially the neighborhoods. Gentrification doesn't have to price out the creatives; it doesn't have to mean only the rich can afford to live there.
'Riches' might have to be redefined to mean 'community'. An awesome thought. Thank goodness there are a few enlightened souls out there, like your brother's landlords, who see more value in encouraging the arts than in lining their already full pockets.
New York USED to be good that way. Now, it's all developers and condo fees. I doubt the legislation that enabled Manhattan Plaza (my brother's building) to exist would make it through the NY Lege at this point.
What a thorough and beautiful defense of the arts and artists.
I feel like most of the US doesn’t value how much we do for everyone’s benefit. City politicians just don’t see the connection. It seems like too big of a leap. It’s only in cities where artists have somehow already carved out a cultural scene. Or, I guess you could move to a beaten down backwater where rents and housing are lower, although even many of those places now have inflated housing costs, as corporations and greedy rich folks buy up properties to make more money renting them as short term rentals only. The cost of housing and healthcare are so high, that I have little time to do artistic photography any more. I spend almost all my time doing the least artistic shoots, because they are the ones that can help me pay our bills.
I am TRULY sorry to hear that. Aside from Cappuccino these days, I'm doing (or at least trying to do) corporate work, which certainly pays more than writing novels. Our country is being starved of creative capital because no one, including you, can afford to do what they were put on this earth to do. It's tragic.
As much as I despise where I live, it is one of those places I can at least afford (at least for now.) Moving some place like Mexico (away from the cities & drug cartels) or Belize is possible in theory. But in practice, as long as I'm taking care of Toni's dogs (and no one else is ever going to) then I'm well and thoroughly stuck here.
I can't tell you how many people I know who are stuck taking care of critters. But as you say, if we don't do it, who will?